We had ourselves one full night last night and this morning. The first part of our night was spent preparing for the incoming cyclone – not really, it was just a drill to get us ready for that eventuality. The EAP drill started at about 7:30pm and began when the APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Director), Jackie, came in the van and delivered a message to Andrew. Andrew then went around to the houses of the trainees near him and updated them on the various status of the emergency. Peace Corps has these 5 stages for the EAP: Alert, Standfast, Consolidation, Evacuation and All-Clear. So we basically had to practice this while in the village and let me tell you, it was a lot of fun trying to tell the villagers what a drill/simulation is (luckily, they had been warned in a letter given to them the previous day). So this activity lasted until about 9pm at which we were all brought together at our school and once again met the regional safety and security director who went over why this drill was important and gave us a few examples of how the EAP helped volunteers in different countries. Luckily, the only thing we have to worry about in Samoa are cyclones and not political upheavals. So if you were worried about our safety (or just mine) rest assured we're ready for the cyclones. BTW, when we consolidate we're only allowed to bring one bag and I was talking to our security director about what to do if we have a computer (laptop) bag and we can't fit a weeks worth of clothes and food in that bag. He said in such a life or death situation would I really be concerned about my computer – spoke like someone who's not thousands of miles from home. In Samoa, I can easily get clothes, food and water and if I were in desperate need of money there is a Western Union here. The one thing that's hard to replace here are electronics and the ease of communication they provide. Hopefully, I won't have to make that kind of decision soon.
One the drill was over, we all rushed back home and got our fishing gear for the Palolo hunting. Palolo's are these worm like creatures that come out of the coral around the Pacific Islands once a year. People catch them to sell at the market at high prices – we were trying to catch them for fun. So we left from the school at about 10:30pm (11pm island time) and drove to the village of Saleapaga where we stayed in some beach fales for the night. We had a pretty big (and important) crew with us – the country director, the assistant country director and her son, the medical officer and her daughter, the training manager and his wife, all the trainers, all the drivers and us 14 new trainees – quite a lot. So we got out to the beach at about 11:45pm-12pm and had to wait until 4am for the Palolo to actually come out. So for the first time, I slept under the stars on a Samoan beach – it was amazing. Closing my eyes and listening to the waves crash against the reef was very relaxing. Then, since we were away from a village, the stars were out in full display and that was amazing. I was able to see the southern cross for the first time and saw 3 shooting stars (I have never seen one before) so the night/early morning was spent just soaking in the atmosphere and thinking of the person who would love this place. At about 2:30am I decided it was best if I got some sleep before wading out in the ocean so I passed out in one of the beach fales until 3:30am at which time I woke up and just stared out into the horizon until other people started showing up. At 4am we started walking out into the ocean looking for Palolo. The whole beach was made up of little coral here and there, so everyone got a bit nicked up. It was amazing to think that as my mom and dad are going to work at 9am, I was in the ocean fishing for a Samoan delicacy – something I could have never predicted. I was able to catch two palolo's but they were really small (apparently the bigger ones come out tomorrow morning) but it was still a cool experience. I stood in the Pacific Ocean as the sun rose behind Nuutele Island – quite a sight (and picture)
While a few trainees said they didn't have fun because they didn't catch Palolo I looked at it from the perspective of could I do any of this in the states – probably not (definitely not in Tennessee) so the experience was worth more than the catch. BTW, even though we went out during low tide at certain points the water was all the way up to my upper chest (and I kept my glasses on but did not lose them). We got back to the village at around 6am – a long night indeed – and when I got home I passed out till 11am. So I don't know if we're going back out tonight but even if we don't it was an amazing experience – just another cool thing on my Samoan Ava stick! L8r.
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